Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino — whose bid for Governor against Andrew Cuomo in 2014 performed strongly across western and central New York, but performed poorly on his home turf downstate — was prominently featured during the Shooters Committee On Public Education (SCOPE) banquet this weekend.

In tow was his running mate, Chumung County Sheriff Chris Moss. Other SCOPE favorites like Assemblyman Dave DiPietro, Family Court candidate Brenda Freedman, and County Executive candidate Ray Walter were in attendance.

I’m told that the event was very well attended and the organization is planning an aggressive role in Western New York’s upcoming State Senate contests next year.

On the Democratic side, it’s unknown if a soon-to-be Governor Kathy Hochul will seek reelection after Governor Cuomo is indicted on January 2nd, as operatives suspect. US Attorney Preet Bharara is thought be interested in seeking the office, and is immensely popular across the state.

On the Republican side, Albany-area Congressman Chris Gibson is expected to run. Gibson holds a PhD from Cornell University and a long military career. Last year he defeated Sean Eldridge, the husband of Facebook co-founder and billionaire Chris Hughes.

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That’s the question posed by political observers from across the left-right spectrum. Earlier this month Clerk Chris Jacobs and Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw both declined to run for County Executive this cycle. Since then, Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy has been advancing